William Kennedy, known as the author who captured Albany, New York, talks to Tom Deignan. ℘℘℘ William Kennedy is telling a story about his father that could very well be a haunting moment from any one of his seven "Albany cycle" novels. "My father's father came from Tipperary," the novelist, 74, says over an Irish breakfast in Fitzpatrick's mid-town Manhattan hotel. Kennedy's … [Read more...] about Out of Albany
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Books: Roscoe
Roscoe – the latest book from Albany author William Kennedy – is a splendid novel: at once an exuberant elegy, a sad comedy, a realistic fable of life and death. In the seventh novel of Kennedy's "Albany cycle," the meshed subjects are the stuff of the real world, from politics to love, corruption to honor. But there is also room for a ghost story (the epitome of a unburied … [Read more...] about Books: Roscoe
Two Grandfathers
William Kennedy on his unsung origins. My grandfathers, George Kennedy and Peter McDonald, died before I was born. I came to know something of them through talks with my parents and other relatives, a few artifacts, death certificates and obituaries, and two photographs that defined them for me forever. Both photos are working-class portraits. The portrait of George … [Read more...] about Two Grandfathers
Dark Secrets of the Heart: William Kennedy’s Irish Chronicles
By Patrick Farrelly October 1992
The Irish of Albany, New York, have proved to be rich and fertile literary material for native son William Kennedy as is evident in Legs, Billy Phelan's Greatest Game, Ironweed, and Quinn's Book. Now a fifth novel, Very Old Bones joins the distinguished Albany Cycle. Patrick Farrelly talked to the Pulitizer Prize-winning author at his home. In his white clapboard house in … [Read more...] about Dark Secrets of the Heart: William Kennedy’s Irish Chronicles